'Jack' is back in neo-Cold War thriller

Friday

Jan 17, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By JANE HORWITZ The Washington Post Writers Group

"Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" PG-13 — Teens may scoff at the outlandish computer acrobatics in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," but they're still likely to get a kick out of this slightly jingoistic spy thriller. It imagines a new, post-Soviet Cold War that mixes terror with financial chicanery. While one violent confrontation gets pretty intense, most of the mayhem is more implied and fast-moving than bloody.

The film works, thanks in large part to Chris Pine, so good as young Capt. Kirk in the recent "Star Trek" reboots (both PG-13s). He cuts an equally dashing figure as Jack Ryan, a super-intellectual, super-brave superspy. The old anti-communist mentality that underpinned Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels and film adaptations that starred the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck has been altered.

This film is not based on a Clancy novel, just the characters he created, and the story involves a cabal of Russian oligarchs. Pine's Ryan is a grad student in London when the 9-11 attacks occur. He joins the Marines, sustains a serious back injury in the Afghan war, falls in love with the medical student (Keira Knightley) who helps him in rehab, and is recruited by CIA honcho Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner).

His job ever since has been to work undercover in Wall Street firms, looking for suspicious accounts that could fund terrorists. It's 2013 when Jack uncovers strange Russia-based funds. Harper sends him to Moscow, where Ryan must shift from analyst to operative when someone tries to kill him. The Russian CEO he has come to "meet" with, Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh, who also directed), plans a huge terror attack against America, followed by a financial attack designed to create a Second Great Depression.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The scene in which Ryan kills an attacker is a knock-down, drag-out head-banger that ends with Ryan drowning the man in a bathtub. It is pretty strong stuff that stays more or less within PG-13 boundaries. The rest of the film includes rare profanity and a whole lot of chases on foot and in SUVs. A bad guy uses a scary-looking blade to kill several people. His attacks are strongly implied, but with little blood.

"The Legend of Hercules" PG-13 — Greek and Roman mythology, art and architecture get all mixed up in "The Legend of Hercules." Based on the most cursory Internet research, it seems the film's mythic mishmash could confuse and even misinform teens interested in the ancient myths of Greece and Rome. Yet, on its own lowbrow terms, it is a modestly entertaining throwback to the spear, shield and toga movies of the 1950s. Its special effects also borrow from Kung Fu film traditions, with heroes leaping onto their enemies in a slow-motion show of power. In 1200 B.C., King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins), fresh from pillaging Argos, squabbles with his Queen, Alcmene (Roxanne McKee). She hates his warlike nature and longs for peace. She prays to the gods and is told she will lie with Zeus and give birth to a demigod with superhuman strength — Hercules.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Even when warriors are run through by spears, the level of blood and gore remains minimal. The most painful moment occurs when Hercules and his friend Sotiris are branded with hot iron as slaves. Sexual situations are steamy but never explicit and only imply undress. Zeus' interlude with Alcmene never shows the god — only her seeming ecstasy. Some of the creatures Hercules fights, both human and animal, seem to be part-monsters. The lion he kills is clearly computer-generated, but the 3-D version could be pretty scary for tweens and younger kids.